Crïmson
by Mind-Entrapped-Wanderlust
Summary: Endi wanted nothing more than to escape the relentless forces that were determined to drag her back to a life she no longer wanted to be a part of. But she decides its time to stop running and put a end to it all...though on the night that was likely to be her last, Endi stumbles across a being in dire need of her help. But will he be grateful for it?


**Warnings: **Constant Human and Yautja obscenities. (Potty-mouthed OC's. Mm-mmh.)

**Disclaimer: **I wish….I own jack squat; nothin'.

** 1.**

With a sigh, Endi held her overheating cell phone from her ear, still flinching as a shrill came from the earpiece. She knew she deserved to be scolded, but god. Did Selina really have to be so _loud_?

She was surprised she wasn't deaf yet.

Reluctantly, she brought the phone back to her ear with an exasperated sigh and continued to listen to the woman rant on, though she was more than understanding as to why she reacted the way she did.

"-mean, really Endi! You're acting beyond insane! Completely out of your mind! **They'll **find you, we both know that!" On the other end, she heard Selina huff and mumble something, her tone softening. "Listen, I can't wait forever, you know….I'm leaving tomorrow morning. A-And, I just want you to come with me….please? It'll be better if we stay together, like all those other times."

Endi closed her eyes, leaning against the frame of her bedroom's doorway, inhaling the old woods' scent. She knew what was coming, she'd known for days now, but she was so tired. Tired of running…of hiding…of praying that she or Selina didn't get caught. For three years they'd been doing the same thing; living in fear. But now Endi had had enough of this routine of dodging the always nearing possibility of capture, death even.

She wasn't even sure she deserved to be alive, with all the things she'd done. In fact, she knew she didn't… But she wasn't just going to sit around while someone else planned to use up and end her life as they pleased. She was her own person, no matter what her past held, and wanted to die when fate deemed it her time to rest.

Selina seemed to understand Endi's answer before she could even try to vocalize it and began crying softly. _Always the teary and gentle one…_Endi thought briefly. The other woman tried to stifle her sobs, hoping she wouldn't hear her. But she did. It had her smiling sadly, but her own eyes remained dry. Her emotions stayed in check.

"Y-You…..Thank you…As much as I hate you for this, thank you so much, Endi. You jerk." Came her choked reply to Endi's silence, along with a sniffle and a forced laugh, "And good luck...Maybe you'll stand a chance….take as many of those bastards as you can with you. R-Rest well…"

Then the line went dead.

Flipping the phone shut then turning and rubbing her temples, Endi gave a soft snort as slight annoyance bubbled in her. Some good-bye that was, one way at that. She also felt a tinge of guilt at not telling Selina the _true_ reason why they were coming for them, well, her specifically actually. Perhaps it was better that way. The less she knew, the easier it would be for her to break away.

Besides, she couldn't just call her back anyways…it was dangerous enough that they even communicated with cellular devices. But she, again, understood the woman's rush and reaction. Keeping things short seemed to ease the pain of their separation and the upcoming events on them both.

Snapping from her thoughts, Endi found herself staring at her image in the hallway mirror. Her dyed hair was thick and deep blue, shoulder length and straight. Large, hazel eyes looked back at her before they ventured to her small nose and pout lips. Since the years they made their escape, her look constantly changed, from various hairstyles to the color of the contacts she wore. But no matter what the guise was, people always said she looked so innocent. So sweet.

How awfully ironic. But also good; she wanted to look totally unlike her true self and nature.

Finally, her eyes settled to the simple choker around her neck, the scar there slightly visible below the rim of the accessory. The bright and simple red stitching and beads within it brought a swarm of memories she'd never forget. Just looking at it made her stomach churn and her heart lurch. It even had her hate for color red worsen.

_Red, red, red…everything is always red. _She thought to herself as she tore away from the mirror and into the master bedroom, a hand tracing along the choker. _The Clans' _emblem, her 'father's' eyes, her always bloodied hands and clothes…. _I'm sick of it all. _

But she'd never take it off; seeing it everyday was her own punishment, and a form of memoriam to its previous owner. With a grunt, Endi sunk into the chair- her 'sleeping chair' as she liked to call it- in the left side of her small room, right next to the open window as a small breeze made itself known, easing her senses. Her favorite dragger readied in her left hand after she pulled it from the hoister about her thigh, poised in her expert grip to strike quickly if and when someone dared attack her while sleeping. She may not have been running, but that didn't mean she was giving in. Endi would be prepared for her former 'family' members and face those bastards head on. Which would also in turn give Selina a better chance at getting further away.

And if Endi happened to lose and get caught…

…She'd do what needed to be done.

Not knowing if this would her last night of sleep being free or alive, Endi mentally prayed that rest found her quickly and brought along a peaceful emptiness with it. No nightmares, not even dreams.

Just wonderful, calm darkness.

And it did.

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[Several hours later]

"…..!"

With a jolt, Endi suddenly sprang up from her chair and applied a swift and deadly slice with her dagger to what she thought was an enemy.

She only found the empty darkness of her room.

Her arm was still outstretched from the non-landing blow of her blade, her breath coming out in quick small huffs as her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room. After a moment of slight surprise and, amazingly, feeling a bit embarrassed at herself, Endi adjusted her postured and gave the room a suspicious once over, squinting her eyes. Upon seeing or sensing no one within the confides of the space, she closed her eyes and focused, expanding her sense of hearing.

_What the hell was that…? _She inquired to herself, taking in the sounds of the night that her acute hearing picked up. From the rustling of the leaves to the faint buzzing of a mosquito outside the window; Endi heard it all. But oddly enough, she didn't hear the noise, or roar, that awoke her from her assumed dreamless sleep.

It had been so…_raw_ sounding, animalistic and barbaric. Unlike anything she ever heard before. It had shaken her, making her skin prickle into goose bumps, and had the woman clutching her dagger tighter. There was no way she dreamed such an unearthly, terrifying sound.

Something within her just wouldn't dismiss it as paranoia like her mind was telling her too, and she found herself cautiously pressing against the cool glass of the window, staring out into the night.

Minutes passed, and yet there was nothing. Her breath fogged up the glass from her standing there so long and she began to get a slight headache from straining her eyes. Running a hand through her hair she made a noise similar to a chuckle, as her scarred vocals prevented her from truly doing so.

_Maybe I _have _completely loss my mind, _she mused mentally, slowly sitting back into her chair. _Maybe all this newfound courage of mine is just truly the insanity of my life kicking in. _The thought had her shaking with humorless laughter. _Crazy little End-_

Cutting through her thoughts though, another earth-shaking roar, this time twice as loud and much more horrifying filled the silence of her room. It terrified her so bad that her dagger slipped from her grasped, as if some part of her knew it would provide no protection against the _thing _behind that roar, and fell with a _chink_ to the floor. It carried out longer this time too, the duration of it seeming to go on forever as Endi that sat, panting and wide eyed in fear, taking it in with her slightly ringing ears. Finally, it stopped, or more likely, was cut off as it ended with a deep grunting sound and snarling.

She sure as hell didn't imagine that.

And in the distance, but not too far from her home, she heard the familiar sound of leaves and earth being stepped upon, causing her breath to catch. Whatever it was out there, and it was close. And possibly coming closer.

So what in god's name was she supposed to do?

As she sat there, eyes glued to the window and fist clenched, the few movies she'd seen, along the lines of horror films, came rushing back to her. See, this was the important part, yeah? The start of the real climax and drama? When a random, unidentifiable and possible inhuman sound comes from the dark, eerie forested area behind the house and the dim minded characters decide to go _towards _it. But this wasn't a movie. And she wasn't dim minded.

She was an assassin, a former assassin to be exact, but still one of the more experienced and precise ones of the craft. It was like she was born to become one. And as much as she hated it, she had grown to become committed to her training, to her past way of life. So much that, even after escaping the forced livelihood of one and given a self gained chance to lead a somewhat normal life, Endi still thought and acted like a purebred assassin. Though she did her best to change what was hardwired into her system. But she didn't hate all of it. No, it actually somewhat benefited her, as her skills are what helped her stay alive.

Along with a gift she had….'earned' as she rose amongst the ranks, one that she found hypocritical. Which was why the others were after her….

All in all, she was trained to be cautious, focused and prepared for anything that could strike at a moment's notice. But also to trust her most raw instincts.

And now they were screaming at her to go investigate the source of that roar. To get to it before it got to her.

Never once in her life were her instincts wrong. Never.

So before she could over think the situation, Endi stood, and began stripping, all the way down to her undergarments. With confident, quick strides, she went over to her closet while tying up her hair in the process and opened it, and pulled out what Selina called their 'ninja outfit'. With a small grin at her friend's nickname for the stealth suit, she slipped on the black, tight bottoms and the sleeveless top, pulling the long collar over the choker and all the way up her neck and over her mouth and nose. Not bothering with the mask, she grabbed for the matching black gloves, pulling at the spandex material until they stopped at her mid bicep. Doing all this in less than five minutes.

_Be quick, make haste. _Endi thought, one of the codes of _The Clan _rearing within her mind. _Time wasted could be time needed to gain information_.

Swiping at the top shelve of the closet, she pulled out a pair of boots and something similar to a utility belt. She quickly slipped on the firm, yet flexible boots, which would allow her more free movement with her feet, such as bending and arching them, without having to deal with the restrictions as a regular pair would. And charlie-horses, she mused, shuddering. Then clipped on the belt, knowing that the small pockets lining it were filled with an array of knives, smoke bombs, and poisonous darts, as well as medicines.

With the clipping of her short sword, which was located under the bed, sideways to the back of her belt, Endi was done and prepared. For what, she still didn't know, but planned to find out.

Inhaling deeply, she waltzed over to the window and wretched it open, finding that even the night's cool air that rushed by her couldn't calm her nerves. But as scared as she was, she proceeded to leaped though it and into the night and the forest. Becoming one with the trees as she traveled amongst them silently, quickly, and unseen.

Towards something that could very well be worse than the horde of assassins tracking her down.

**:**

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He was not in the pauk-de (f*cking.) mood for this c'jit (sh*t.)

Ni'rweji was starting to believe Paya was either personally pissed with him, or was on her menses. The last month of his life had been such a living hell that even Cetanu's grip would be welcomed escape from it.

Though, he had to admit most of it _was _of his own doing. Letting his headstrong attitude and outrage get the better of him, which lead him to believe he could redeem his sabotaged honor and find the **true **bad blood responsible for it all himself. His actions had the opposite effect, and now Ni'rweji was seen as a full blown ic'jit (Bad Blood.) to the arbitrators hot on his hide.

He was now stripped of his status, accused of conspiring against and killing an Elder, and had a bounty on his head.

_Why in Paya's name would I kill the Yautja who __**promoted**__ me?! Could my luck get any worse? _He had pondered upon landing on Earth after barely escaping a few familiar looking ships that would detect his own, just outside of this sector of the galaxy known as the 'Milky Way'. He snorted, vaguely giving the oomans's name for it an amused thought.

And as he paced about the outside of his ship after roaring out his frustrations, cloaking it and himself-he was far too pissed to even care enough to do a scan of the area- hoping to at least ease his rage filled yet weary mind…

His luck did indeed take another turn for the worse.

Out of absolutely _nowhere, _two fully grown and obviously agitated Kiande Amedha were upon him. And they apparently decided that he was the cause of their upset. Their sudden appearance had taken the male off guard completely, and he growled out a string of obscenities as one managed to knick his massive side with a quick swipe of its deadly blade-like tail.

_**Pauk.**_

He mentally cursed himself as he whipped out his wrist blades, releasing a roar at the serpents, only to be cut off as one tackled down on him and he landed with an grunt, quickly rolling to his feet to face his current self appointed prey as it hissed and bared it's metallic looking teeth at him.

_C'jit….C'jit! _In his rush to get away from the looming threat of being captured, he had foolishly forgotten that this planet had harbored quite a few hives with these hard meats. In fact, he actually came here to go through his own Chiva, proudly surviving and earning his bloodied mark and status! How could he possibly forget that?! Not to mention the fact that he also didn't scan the area. Paya, he was acting like an unblood. What was wrong with him?

But even with that all refreshed in his mind, it didn't make sense. These Kiande Amedha just happened to pop up right after he arrived, in what seemed to be an isolated area? And it certainly didn't look like a suitable hive location. Something wasn't right…

Ni'rweji didn't have time to dwell on it as a chill ran down his spine told him to duck, just as a sharp tail narrowly missed his head. Growling, focused now, he side-stepped as another tail came swinging from his right. Quickly he swung while twirling, his wrist blade finding its target as the hissing hard meat shrieked in pain, the blade now buried within its side. Letting his rage take him, Ni'rweji sank the other blade into his prey's upper abdomen and let out a brutal roar as he tore it straight half with a pull of his arms. Acidic green blood splashed about from the hard meat's now mangled corpse, some of it hitting his scaled and unprotected chest. He growled out as it slowly began to eat at his flesh, but he quickly pushed the pain aside, turning to the remaining kinder amedha.

As he turned, his mask caught a faint heat signature, so faint he wasn't even sure it was there, distracting his attention for only a moment. But that moment was all the remaining hard meat needed, and it let out a keen shriek of satisfaction as it struck his opened side, gashing at the thick muscle of his neck with its tail.

In an instant, the male was on his knees, neon green blood flushing out of torn flesh and muscle with each pump of his thundering heart. The pain was unbelievable; hot and scalding as it rang throughout his entire body, he couldn't even compose himself enough to let out a single snarl.

It was over.

Done.

There was no way he could carry on after a wound like this, even with his ship just feet away he'd die of blood loss.

"C-C'ji-" He coughed out as his vision blurred and darkened and the pain subsided into horrifying numbness. His massive body fell with a thud to the warm earth below and his blood began to puddle beneath him. The hard meat shrilled out its impending victory as it stalked back over to the fallen Yautja, its second set of jaws extending out of a mess of saliva and razor sharp teeth.

So this was how it was going to end? Dishonored and shamed? Without even having a chance to redeem himself from all those damn false claims put upon him?

Barely conscience now, Ni'rweji found his upcoming death sickening hilarious.

_Deemed a bad blood and now about to die like one! All within three cycles! _

But as the final blow of the serpent came for his skull, Ni'rweji felt a strange sense of calm. He fought. And even though he, much to his eternal pauk-de embarrassment, lost to a lone kiande amedha, he died in a way he always saw fit for himself. While fighting, completely in rage and fury. He would die dishonored…but still a warrior true.

So as he welcomed the coldness of Cetanu's presence and allowed his heavy eyes to shut, he felt at terms with himself.

Oddly though, he felt no strike. No forced entry through his skull and into his frontal lobe.

But he **did **hear the pained and drawn out shriek of the last hard meat before it's body fell with a thump next to his own, it's torso, from what he could see with his darkening vision, was covered in deep gashes, with several silver knives imbedded in the creature's neck and elongated head. Had he been in better condition, Ni'rweji would've gave the damn thing a rather immature and teasing, 'Hah!'

"W….Wh…" He tried to question his 'savior', but it proved to be too much of a strain on his dying body. He simply groaned out, his voice no longer any use and allowed his eyes to shut, void of the energy to keep them open anymore. As his mind faded into unconsciousness, with nothing to hold his attention anymore, a wisp of a thought bounced about his rapidly emptying head and cold body.

Who the hell had the audacity to try and save him?

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{A/N} Gawd, I hate doin' author's notes at the beginning, so here they are now! I don't even know when the desire to write a Predator fic came to me, but I found myself up at 3 a.m. one morning, typing away. So I haven't really planned out a plot for this yet and this was just me really venting off my late night imaginations. But if you guys like it enough and tell me what ya think, I'll probably continue it! So review if ya like it, dun flame it cause I'm a big crybaby, and perhaps I'll see you soon!

Ttfn~


End file.
